Judicial Watch Sues for Pentagon
Communications about Tucker Carlson, Fox News
As Joe Biden and his handlers remake the federal government in their own
image they are clumsily tripping over the U.S. Constitution. Consider the
Pentagon and Tucker Carlson of Fox News.
In the March 9, 2021, broadcast of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Carlson
said, in criticizing a “woke” public relations push by the
military:
So we’ve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits. Pregnant women
are going to fight our wars. It’s a mockery of the U.S. military. Well,
China’s military becomes more masculine as it’s assembled the world’s
largest navy…. It’s a mockery of the U.S. military.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that Defense Secretary Austin was “revulsed”
by Carlson’s comments. Official military Twitter accounts were also
used to
attack Carlson’s views.
What was going on behind the scenes at the Pentagon? To find out we filed a
FOIA suit against the Department of Defense seeking communications between
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other top military officials regarding
Fox News and Carlson, whose recent commentary on the U.S. military was
attacked by top Pentagon officials (Judicial
Watch v. U.S. Department of Department of Defense (No.
1:21-cv-01225)).
We sued here in federal court after the Department of Defense failed to
reply to our March 16, 2021, request for:
All emails sent between Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and email
accounts ending in .gov and/or .mil containing the terms “Tucker
Carlson” and/or “Fox News.”
All emails sent between Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark
Milley and email accounts ending in .gov and/or .mil containing the terms
“Tucker Carlson” and/or “Fox News.”
All emails sent between Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen.
John Hyten and email accounts ending in .gov and/or .mil containing the
terms “Tucker Carlson” and/or “Fox News.”
We’re asking for emails sent between March 1, 2021, and March 16,
2021.
On his March 11 show, Carlson accused
the Pentagon of declaring “war on a domestic news
operation:”
Since when does the Pentagon declare war on a domestic news operation? We
can’t remember that ever happening. But we’re going to pass on that,
because this is bigger than a feud with some flack at the Pentagon. This is
genuinely worrisome.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz sent
a letter to Defense Secretary Austin demanding a meeting with the
Commandant of the Marine Corps to account for the attacks on Carlson and
“a plan to prevent other military units from being similarly mobilized
against the speech of American citizens.”
In the letter, Sen. Cruz wrote:
I am deeply troubled that the comments you made, and the military’s
broader obligation to avoid political endorsements and controversy, are
being systematically undermined for the sake of leftwing ideology and
political expediency. The last week has witnessed the Pentagon mobilize
systematic, public attacks against television host Tucker Carlson that in
substance, tone, and political resonance are inexplicably inappropriate.
The Department of Defense has rules about how members of the U.S. military
can participate in politics. Active military members may express a personal
opinion on political candidates and issues, but they cannot express
opinions on behalf of or as a representative of the U.S. military.
We are deeply disturbed over the Pentagon’s illicit secrecy about its
coordinated attacks on the First Amendment-protected speech of Tucker
Carlson.
To sum up, we asked the Pentagon to search two weeks’ worth of email, in
three accounts, using two search terms. And they stonewalled.
The fact that we must take the Pentagon to federal court for these
documents suggests the agency has something to hide.
Illegal Immigration Overwhelms Sheriffs; Families Exposed to Gang
Violence
As the corrupt media is focused on promoting the anti-Trump politician Liz
Cheney, the deadly dangerous Biden border crisis continues unabated. But
sheriffs of many counties across the country are making a stand for the
rule of law, our sovereignty, and the rule of law -- as our Corruption
Chronicles blog reports.
Local law enforcement agencies nationwide are overwhelmed with criminal
activity linked to a huge increase in illegal immigration, and families are
being exposed to violence associated with drug trafficking and
transnational gangs, according to hundreds of sheriffs across the United
States. In a letter to
President Joe Biden, the law enforcement officials in more than two dozen
states blast the administration’s “reckless and irresponsible” open
border policies that are exposing innocent citizens to illegal alien
violence. Titled, “Help America’s Sheriffs Keep Our Neighborhoods and
Communities Safe by Halting Illegal Immigration,” the document asserts
that the crisis began when Biden was vice president.
“In a myriad of ways, you and your administration are encouraging and
sanctioning lawlessness and the victimization of the people of the United
States of America, all in the name of mass illegal immigration,” the
sheriffs write. “What is most troubling to America’s Sheriffs is that
you and your administration were well aware that this crisis would happen
when you ceased construction of the border wall and changed border security
policies.” The law enforcement officials continue: “Sheriffs were
talking with the Obama/Biden administration about these same concerns that
we were experiencing at the time based on the lax policies then being
implemented. In fact, America’s Sheriffs attended meetings in Washington
with then-Undersecretary of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas, who
is now your Secretary of Homeland Security. You and he are fully aware of
what illegal immigration does to our citizens, legal residents and our
communities.”
Among the letter’s signatories are sheriffs in Alabama, Arizona, Florida,
Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska,
Nevada, North Carolina, and Texas to name a few. Even sheriffs, who are
typically elected to head county law enforcement agencies, in states that
broadly offer illegal immigrants sanctuary signed the letter. They include
several in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Jersey,
Illinois, Oregon, and Vermont. “You may imagine how violated America’s
Sheriffs feel that you unleashed a predictable crisis upon our nation that
puts those we promised to protect at risk of grave danger,” the cops
write to the commander-in-chief. “America’s Sheriffs will not defy our
oaths. We will not join with those who suggest that we ignore existing laws
in collusion with those elected officials who arbitrarily feel that they
should be excused from being accountable and required to follow our laws.
To do so would violate the promise of America’s Sheriffs to those who
bestowed upon us the honor and privilege to represent their safety and
security concerns.”
The officials continue by writing that Americans expect them to uphold and
enforce the rule of law and assure that they will uphold the oath to do so.
“In the interests of ending the undermining of our laws and the increased
risks to the safety and security of the people of the United States of
America, we respectfully request that you immediately reverse course on
your pro-illegal immigration policies, resume the border wall construction,
and embrace the common-sense, public-safety-supporting border policies of
the previous administration.” The Obama and Trump administrations
“recognized the threats and dangers presented by illegal immigration,”
the law enforcement officials write, adding that it is “critically
important” that Biden see it as well.
The sheriff who wrote the letter, Thomas M.
Hodgson in Bristol County, Massachusetts, sent it to his counterparts
throughout the U.S. and 275 sheriffs in 39 states quickly signed it.
Hodgson authored it after government figures revealed a record number of
illegal immigrant minors entered the country from Mexico. Around the same
time, the U.S. Border Patrol disclosed that it arrested more
than twice as many criminal migrants in the first six months of
fiscal year 2021 than it did in all of 2020. In the first half of this
fiscal year, the Border Patrol apprehended 5,018 “ criminal
aliens” compared to 2,438 in all of fiscal year 2020. The agency
defines criminal aliens as individuals who have been convicted of one or
more crimes, whether in the U.S. or abroad, prior to interdiction by
federal agents.
Maxine Waters and Congressional Special Security Demands Puts
Americans at Risk
Reasonable security for congressmen and other public officials is
necessary, but it shouldn’t come at the direct expense of the safety and
protection of Americans. But that’s exactly what is happening. Here are
the
shocking details from our Corruption Chronicles blog.
Federal Air Marshals (FAM) were yanked from a high-risk flight so
Congresswoman Maxine Waters could have extra security during a recent trip
to Minnesota, though she was already covered by a four-man detail
consisting of two Capitol Police officers and two Secret Service agents,
according to multiple law enforcement sources interviewed by Judicial
Watch. The veteran FAM sources say the California Democrat had two air
marshals reassigned to a plane that would otherwise not qualify because it
was not considered high-risk. The transfer forced the high-risk flight to
complete its trip without the two air marshals originally assigned to it,
said Sonya Hightower-LaBosco, a retired FAM who serves as executive
director of the Air Marshal National Council. The union represents
thousands of air marshals nationwide. “Two air marshals were pulled off a
high-risk flight so Maxine Waters’ aircraft could have six armed
agents,” Hightower-LaBosco said, adding that two additional armed agents
met the congresswoman on the ground.
FAMs are federal law enforcement officers whose primary function is
to protect
commercial passenger flights by deterring and countering the risk
of terrorist activity, aircraft piracy and other crimes to protect the
nation’s transportation infrastructure. However, a special “VIP”
program launched about a year ago allows members of Congress to get extra
protection even though they often already travel with plenty of security on
flights that do not meet the threat criteria, usually determined by the
FBI, for air marshals. The program “has left a glaring hole in
America’s aviation security,” according to a whistleblower complaint
filed this year by the Air Marshal National Council with the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General. “Recently, the Federal Air
Marshal service has assigned a full-time position at the Capitol in
Washington D.C. to take requests from Congressional members for Federal Air
Marshal coverage of flights these Congressional members are on,” the
document, which is also addressed to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas,
states. “The FAMS are now taking agents off of regularly scheduled high
risk flights to put them on flights with members of Congress, that in most
cases have their own armed federal security details onboard already. It has
become akin to a type of extremely expensive concierge service for
Congressional members.” The document cites the recent Waters request as
an example, confirming what other sources told Judicial Watch, that “FAMS
were pulled off of a scheduled high-risk flight to cover” the
congresswoman’s plane.
Waters received the extra security while traveling to Minnesota in
mid-April to support protestors in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb,
after police shot and killed a black man with an open
warrant related to an aggravated armed robbery. The Derek Chauvin
trial was wrapping up around 10 miles away and the 82-year-old lawmaker
incited the crowd, encouraging protestors to “ get
more confrontational” if the former Minneapolis cop was not
convicted of murder for George Floyd’s death. “We gotta stay on the
street, we’ve got to get more active, we’ve got to get more
confrontational, we’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean
business,” Waters said ahead of closing arguments in Chauvin’s trial.
The former officer was convicted and the judge presiding over the trial
called the congresswoman’s comments “ abhorrent.”
Judicial Watch is investigating Waters’ special security arrangement and
has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with DHS for
documents associated with the April 17 Delta Airlines flight from
Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport to Minneapolis–Saint
Paul International Airport. In the public-record request, Judicial Watch
writes that Waters raised the potential for violence, directed lawlessness,
and may have interfered with a co-equal branch of government. Furthermore,
Judicial Watch points out that it is still not known what authorized
official government business the congresswoman, who represents Los Angeles
in the House, was attending in Minnesota and the appearance is her travel
was for personal gain. “How do you go out and promote defunding the
police then call for more police protection,” said Hightower-LaBosco, a
former police officer who served 12 years as an air marshal.
Hightower-Bosco says the estimated cost of Waters’ security detail is
about $10,000 for each leg.
Until next week,
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